Friday, April 07, 2006

100 Beers and more

I would never pay a hundred bucks, or even 70 pesos for a bottle of San Miguel in any pretentious Makati bar when I know I could get it for less than 25 bucks in any supermarket, and it will taste exactly the same, maybe even better, kahit hindi nakatambay dun sina bestpren Tim. But I’m willing to pay the 150 pesos for freshly brewed imported Belgian beer in this place ironically called Paradise, located on the corner of the street where the lights are red and women roam to sell flesh.

This isn’t the first time I’ve gone from stingy to galante on pricey beer. Bogchief and I used to frequent Grappa’s for the Czech beer they brew, Pivo Praha. They serve banana-y wheat beer that’s very refreshing, but too much of it could make you constipated. Or in Bogchief’s case, run to the toilet every 5 mins. The best European beer fare is in Salcedo Market though: ice-cold German Oettinger, sold in 1/2 liter aluminum cans, perfect for a sunny Saturday at the park with spicy Hungarian sausage for lunch. If you want to get hammered at 12 noon, you can also try the extra strong just below 10% alcohol content beer. The after-effect is like finishing a whole bottle of wine all by yourself for 80 pesos.

Back to the 100 Beers. The ambience is pleasant but all the potential coziness is ruined by the blaring taxicab sounds. I generally like sitting by the bar, not because I like to flirt with the bartenders and coquettishly beg for an extra bowl of nuts. My God, there is this Belgian dude owner/manager behind the bar who resembles Albert Einstein, hairdo and all.

I digress again.

I would recommend for the lady drinkers, especially the morena or sige na nga Boracay-tanned ones with long hair, to bring male companions with them, lest you be subjeted to the advances of sleazy, balding white men that are on the prowl in P. Burgos.

Now to review all the 100 Beers, one by one. I wish. Since I couldn’t afford most of the bottled beers there [the picture with the fancy looking bottle costs a whopping 269 bucks!] I just tried everything on tap.

This green drink is mint beer. Drinking Listerine beer is not exactly my thing. You don’t see any green fairies after finishing a glass of this either. But if you’ve had one too many garlic pizzas for dinner, then you should have this first, cos it’s better than any breath freshener. It’s not bad. It is just strange. And the teenage mutant ninja turtle color doesn’t exactly make it seem all the more appetizing.

Then there’s Cherry beer. To cater to the ladies. It coats the bitterness of the beer and leaves a sweet tangy sensation. I am no fan of this either. I like my beer the good old fashion way, and drink it like a man, bottoms up. What’s interesting about this Cherry beer is that this is no sherry temple; no artificial flavoring added or so the owner claims. Actual cherries were brewed over a period of time with the malt.

Then there’s the least interesting coke beer, where SURPRISE! SURPRISE! Coke is added to the beer.

My personal favorite [ergo, the most value for your money, you can’t find this anywhere else in the country so go ahead and splurge 146 pesos on a glass of it] is the white beer, Hoegaarden. This is supposedly popular the world over. I can’t feign beer connoisseur-ness, why the white tinge is significant to its taste. Basta astig na puti, saka masarap sobra. Mark my word, if all draft beers tasted like this, I promise to never make fun of Tim Yap again.